Ninja Man appeal pushed to Wednesday after late Crown filings

Entertainer Desmond 'Ninja Man' Ballentine and the two men convicted alongside him will wait until Wednesday for their appeal to open in the Court of Appeal, after Monday's sitting was put off again.

The Crown's written submissions arrived late, prompting the adjournment. Prosecutors had been directed to lodge those papers by April 6, yet they were not filed until Friday just past.

When the case was called, the defence — King's Counsel Peter Champagnie with counsel Robert Fletcher and Zara Lewis — asked for more time to examine the filings, which refer to over 40 legal authorities.

Fletcher said the team needed a fair chance to weigh the Crown's answer before the appeal moved forward.

"We believe that proper preparation involves us reading the prosecution's response and taking those submissions into account," Fletcher told the court. He indicated that with a Wednesday start, the defence would be prepared to proceed.

Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Kathy-Ann Pyke expressed regret for the lateness and said she had given the defence an affidavit setting out why the filings were overdue.

"For me, this type of delay is unprecedented, and I really hope it never happens again," she said, conveying her apology.

Pyke attributed the hold-up to several pressures: co-counsel being shifted to other courts and circuits, heavy workloads, shortages of staff, and checks on factual points raised in one of the appeal grounds.

She also said health difficulties had hindered her review of long documents, and that she has been occupied since January with a murder trial that is still running, further cutting the time available to finish the submissions.

Pyke told the bench she did not resist a Wednesday opening and likewise had no objection if the hearing began on Tuesday.

The panel of Justices David Fraser, Lorna Shelly Williams and Marcia Dunbar-Green nonetheless accepted the defence application and directed that the appeal open on Wednesday.

Ballentine, his son Janeil, and Dennis Clayton received life sentences in 2017 following their conviction for the 2009 killing of Ricardo Johnson, who lived in Kingston.

Justice Martin Gayle handed down those terms in the Home Circuit Court in December 2017, after the three were found guilty the month before of murder and shooting with intent.

The Crown's case held that the killing grew out of a domestic dispute in Lower Mall Road, St Andrew. Prosecutors said that one day after the clash, Ballentine, his son and Clayton came back carrying guns and other weapons, pursued Johnson and another man through a fence, and fired. Johnson was hit in the side as he tried to resist the attackers.

Fletcher acts for Ballentine, Champagnie for Janeil Ballentine, and Lewis for Clayton.